Isaiah 8:3
3 And I went [qarab] unto the
prophetess; [nabiy'ah] and she conceived, [harah] and bare [yalad] a son. [ben] Then said ['amar] the LORD [Yahovah] to me, Call [qara'] his
name [shem] Mahershalalhashbaz. [Maher
Shalal Chash Baz] KJV-Interlinear
3 So I
approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the
Lord said to me, "Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz; NASB
Prophetess, ‘nabiyah,’
means inspired woman, and when used in association with someone else who is a
prophet, namely Isaiah, she is called a prophetess, or Isaiah’s wife. This title does not indicate that she had any
sort of spiritual gifts or powers.
The mere fact that Isaiah
used this term here rather than saying his wife, or naming his wife, indicates
that his wife was knowledgeable of the scriptures as they had them in that day,
and that she was in complete agreement with the instructions that God had given
Isaiah.
They were to have a child
and it would be a son and his name was to be Mahershalalhashbaz, which means
hasten to the spoil or plunder speeds hastens spoil.
Needless to say, all of
this activity would have had to cover a period of at least nine months, and
perhaps a bit longer.
This verse also indicates
the huge attitude difference between Isaiah and his wife, and the king and attitude
of the people in general.
Isaiah took God at his
word and did not hesitate. Most likely
these activities within his marriage occurred naturally and in due course, and
without special arrangement. Isaiah and
his wife would not have changed the routines of their marriage for this to
occur.
In contrast the general
public consensus as to the word of God was looked at with doubt and unbelief.
By the time the child is
born, most probably everyone would have already forgotten about this prophecy,
thus the written document to help support this prophecy. That document would have been written many
months prior to the birth of the child. This
all giving just that much more credibility as to the words spoken by God
through Isaiah.
So, we all have the Bible
before us. The Bible was compiled since
the time of Adam and assembled in written form since the time of Moses. The Old Testament was written over the period
from about 1500 B.C. to the final book which was written around 400 B.C. Or, it took about 1100 years to complete the
Old Testament.
As the to the New Testament,
the writing time was much shorter, or about sixty years give or take, from
perhaps 35 A.D. to 96 A.D., when John wrote the final book of Revelation. Then the written scriptures were closed and
no more revelations were forth coming from God.
And as to you, the Bible
is now before you. It has been written,
and how much of it have you actually read?
How much of is do you understand?
How much of it do you agree with?
And how much of it do you believe or accept? Isaiah’s generation had the written word and
the signs provided. You have the written
word and you have the many indications from history and the world around you,
but do you see them?
